I realize I haven’t done a typical look-what-my-child-has-been-up-to post in a while. There are a couple reasons. At some point I think for general blogging purposes the monthly updates get silly. I mean, I don’t think I’ll be saying look at Hailey’s 37th month update! Maybe I’ll switch them to every few months. Plus I can’t control myself and squeeze Hailey in fairly consistently anyway. The other reason is that all I really have to say about her at this point sounds like sunshine and rainbows. I really have no complaints right now. Isn’t that annoying? Yes, I thought so. But you guys, just look at this face!
Pardon the redundancy, but this is my favorite age yet. Over the past couple months Hailey has turned into a little person. A little person with opinions, who plays games and repeats every word we say. She says too many words to count now, though some words might take repeated exposure for those not fluent is Hail-ese to understand. For example, sandals come out more like an-dahs and thank you sounds a bit more like tink-two. It’s as cute as it sounds like it might be. She also says Yeah! and sounds like an excited teenager. I’m working on turning that into Yes, please.
Speaking of words, Hailey often practices to herself. We’ll be driving and I’ll hear her saying duck quack quack while playing with her stuffed duck or she’ll look at herself in the mirror and point out nose, ears, eye, etc. At home, she likes to point things out and make us say them, too. We spend a lot of time saying mama, dada, Hailey, Koda, shoulder, knee, freckle…. you get the point.
Oh, and I love that she says her own name now. A-yee.
She also gives the best hugs. I’m talking arms-wrapped-around-the-neck and squeeze tight kind of hugs. I get one every morning when I get her out of the crib and it makes my day. She’s such a happy and loving girl. She likes to tell strangers hi, then waves and says BYE-EE whenever she leaves.
Tantrums have almost disappeared at this point (though I have no doubt they will be back, especially after throwing this tantrum-free announcement out to the world). I think the higher level of understanding and communication has helped.
She also has fallen in love with her bay-bee. It’s my Cabbage Patch doll from when I was a baby and she loves her. I know some people believe parents push gender rolls, but I think some of it comes naturally. Hailey loves to pick baby up, pat her back and say shh shh. She also pushes her around in her cozy coupe and feeds her dinner. She insists on giving baby real food. I oblige.
She likes to pick up her toys and line up items.Will she always stay this organized?
For the more hard facts, Hailey still goes to bed at 7:00pm. She wakes up around 7:30am, but plays in her crib quietly until I get her up at 8:00am. She naps once a day and it’s creeping back now to around 12:15pm/12:30pm because this keeps happening.
She usually she sleeps for 2 hours. She’s eating well, when she isn’t teething (she has all but the second year molars). I’m guessing she weighs around 25 pounds. She wears size 18-24m and 2T. People say she looks tall. I hope she grows taller than my 5’1”! Her shoe size is 5. She’s still in diapers (size 4) though I am playing with the idea of potty training this summer.
Basically, everything is really good right now. Sure, some days I leap with excitement for the extra hands when David gets home, but those days are few and forgotten quickly. Mostly I try to soak up the fun and abundance of love this age brings. Still, by the end of most days we both look like this-
New parents, hang in there. By 20 months you will forget the pains of childbirth, the sleepless nights and the plethora of diaper changes. You’ll still cherish nap time (I know I do!!), but the busy days are filled with so much laughter.
What is/was your favorite age?
John J. says
Great update on precious Hailey. Hope to see her soon.
Shari says
How CUTE are those little pigtails?! 🙂
jodie says
This age is why I love my job. I want to squeeze this little one and hear her cute words. Tink-two…adorable!!!
Verna says
Adorable!! It’s so fun watching them learn new things! Never gets old!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
Oh my goodness, that romper outfit is TOO cute! You have one well dressed child…props to you on that one!
Brittany Dixon says
hah, thank you! We made an emergency trip to Old Navy the other day when it was 85 degrees and all she had was jeans 😉
Danica @ It's Progression says
She is sooooo adorable….And that last paragraph – ss if I didn’t already have baby fever bad enough already…. : )
Brittany Dixon says
WOOO baby fever! I hear it’s going around!
Tricia says
Wow she sleeps well. Did she always sleep this long or has it increased as she has gotten older? (from a sleep deprived mom-can you tell?) My daughter goes to sleep at 7 too but is up anywhere from 5:30-6:00. Sigh! She is only one so maybe there is hope?
Jessica says
Hope no one minds if I chime in.
7-530/6 is really pretty average…. I mean its early, yes, but its normal for children to sleep anywhere from 10.5-12 hours at this age. Sounds like yours is unfortunately not a 12 hour sleeper at night. 🙁 Boo! My son is around 10 months and he sleeps 630-630. I’m hoping he will get to 7-7 soon.
Before we know it they’ll be begging to sleep in, right?!
Brittany Dixon says
Love when people jump in- the more the merrier! I was blessed with a great sleeper from very early on. I’ve been incredibly grateful for it, but also know I’ll get my pay back if we ever have a #2.
And Jessica, you’re right, soon enough we’ll be having to kick their sleepy butts out of bed 😉
Karen says
She is just so STINKIN cute!! Keely is going to be 17 months next week but I am looking forward to the year and a half mark. We are still practicing the talking as pretty much everything is da-da. But we do get some yeas, ma-mas, ta-tas (not sure what this means), and ohs. Again, I wish we lived closer because I think Hailey & Keely would be great friends…:)
Brittany Dixon says
Aw, I’ll bet they would! I don’t think Hailey even said mama until a few months ago (she must have been holding out on me) and now there is a new word every day! It’s ridiculously fun!
Staci says
This is such a cute post!! Thank you for sharing a glimpse of toddlerhood. The pigtails are just adorable, I can’t wait to be a mom!
Gcroft says
Love your H updates. I keep going back to mine, although my baby is only 6 months old. Time flies with her, and I won’t always remember what baby girl did from week to week, let alone month to month. My favourite age? It keeps changing. 8 – 12 weeks, 4 months, 5 months…..you get the idea. 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Haha, yes, my favorite age has been whatever Hailey is! 😉
Isn’t it amazing how quickly you forget? I’m glad I have a record because I can’t remember when she did anything. It flies by!
Erin @ The Grass Skirt says
OMG, Brittany! I cannot believe how big she has gotten. Hailey is such an adorable little girl, and I love the updates. 🙂
The Grass Skirt
Karen says
All ages have there pluses and minuses. I must agree, 18-24 months is fun, they are turning into a little person. But 17-18 years have not been bad either. Our son has finally started to see we are not always wrong, and just saying the things we tell him to hear ourselves speak. If I could have skipped over any of the past 18 years for me it would have been 14-16 years old.
You have a long way till that point, enjoy every moment, they go by so quickly. We are going to watch ours graduate in three days and it is quite sad but a proud moment all at the same time.
Hailey is a cutie!
Brittany Dixon says
I LOVE hearing that 17-18 years is fun, too. Part of my wants to keep her little forever, but the other part knows the joy comes from watching her grow and change. Congratulations on your son graduating! What an exciting milestone. You should be so proud!
Parita says
So. Stinkin’. Cute!
Katy says
Babies are cute and sweet but I agree toddlers kick a$$ 🙂
Hanna says
H has grown so much lately (based on the pics I see)! She looks like a little girl now and not so much like a baby. She’s a doll! My girls also play mama with their dolls too. My oldest will lay her dolls out on whatever she can find and cover them up for their “nap time”. One night I found 6 dolls spread throughout the house on top of book “beds” and then they were covered up with open books or baby wash cloths. So funny! My favorite age is their present ages of course! That is 14 months and 3.5. 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
ohhhhhhhh my gosh- dolls all over in book beds MELTS my heart. Please tell me you wrote that one for the memory books. That’s precious.
jennifer says
My little girl Alana 2 weeks younger then Hailey covers her Mickey every night with her lovie patting him on the bottom saying night night Minnie. It is so adorablI love hearing her new words every day. She gets so frustrated with her shoes putting them on and taking them off over and over. Usually in the car while I’m driving. Oh the joys of being a single Mom and no one to distract her. I am enjoying every wonderful step.
Marie says
Love the updates. At 18 months we are in the middle of major teething and tantrums. I’m now praying that at 20 months we will have moved into this awesome phase you are enjoying!
Brittany Dixon says
We had tantrums for a month or two and then about a week of terrible teething (not eating much, fussy). Those tough weeks make the fun times more sweet. I hope it passes soon for you!
Beth Sheridan says
Oh thank you for that post! My baby boy is now 2 1/2 and I have just watched him develop SO much over the past year into a little human being. I never wanted to have another child, but I just love him so much that now I think I could actually do it all again and survive 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
The mind starts playing tricks, doesn’t it? Thinking hmm… maybe we could do this again. How quickly we forget the lack of sleep! 😉
jade says
I love sleeping baby pictures. My kiddo is a bit of a poorer sleeper, so when he does go down for the night, he is usually in all kind of contorted ways – like Hailey where her feet look out of the crib! But I still love them nonetheless.
christina says
Cuuuute. So cute. I love the 18month – 2 yrs age so much. I’m kinda jealous of her romper in the first pic. Ha!
Kathleen Ojo @ My Ojos says
Aww, I love your Hailey updates! My daughter is 10 months old and I find myself referring to your archives to see what your little one was up to at the same age 🙂 My daughter sounds a lot like yours – a cautious, loving, sweet little person – so your posts like a glimpse into my future!
Brittany Dixon says
Sugar and spice and everything nice sure does fit little girls, doesn’t it?! 10 months is a great age, too!!
Jen says
She is SO precious! I am so eager for Wyatt to say more words.
Chantal says
I love this age, I truly do, no matter the hardships and frustrations that come with it. Penny is 17.5 months old now!
Hallie@ChasingHallie says
She looks so tall! And super cute. I love that she must feed her baby doll real food. haha The things toddlers insist on.
I agree, so fun at this age!
Katie Bearden says
When you first switched Hailey to 1nap was it sometimes short? I am really struggling with my 16month old son’s sleep. He does not sleep 12 hours at night more like 10 and half.. 7:30am to 6:15ish… I leave him in the crib playing till 7am. I have been putting him down for a nap at 1230 but he is waking after 45 min to an hour! I leave him to self soothe and hopefully go back but it doesn’t always work.
This makes for a LONG afternoon!
Any ideas anyone from a Very tired toddler boy mom
Brittany Dixon says
H transitioned pretty well to one nap, though we went through a period where we bounced between one and two naps a day. I’ve heard from a LOT of moms, though, that one nap a day can start off short and then get longer. I have a friend whose 2 year old started with a one short nap and it now is a solid THREE hour hour nap (the holy grail of naps), so I think there is hope for it to start stretching out. I’m sure those afternoons are LONG so I hope you have lots of play dates, but I really believe he might start extending the nap, too. Good luck!
Kimberly @ Healthy Strides says
So cute! And I second (or third or fourth) the cuteness of the romper. I love reading these updates because it makes it so clear how different boys and girls are. Hailey feeds her baby and lines up toys. Miles throws Cookie Monster at my leg. I’m just hoping that means he’ll be an A+ pitcher some day.
I agree, too, that this is a fun age. We have tantrums but at least I know why – he’s hungry and dinner isn’t coming together fast enough or the dog growled, sounding like a lion (his words, not mine).
Kathryn says
Great post! I have an 11 month old little girl and I look forward to when she can begin to communicate back with me! Hailey is SO CUTE!!
Sarah says
Great update! Yes, if she is anything like my son there will be another round of dramatics and tantrums coming, but really… they’re not that bad. It’s sooo much easier when they can communicate with you! Be sure and take some videos (even if it’s just on your phone) of her sweet little voice and funny pronounciations, you’ll be amazed how quickly she will begin correcting herself!
Julie says
Aww… she’s just precious! I about gasped out loud, tho, when I read her weight – my daughter weighed 24 lbs at her 12-mo. checkup! (She was off the charts for height, but still a chunk.) 🙂 Enjoy! That is a fun age. (My daughter is 13 now. NOT a fun age!) We didn’t even start w/ tantrums ’til she was 3 (I foolishly thought we’d escaped them). 😉
Presley @ Run Pretty says
These babies are growing up too fast! Maddux will be one in June and I am FREAKING OUT. Seeing you talk about Hailey helps calm me back down. haha
Kristen@Change of Pace says
Gah she’s adorable! I love the romper. My little one won’t wear them!
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
She is a doll. I certainly love this age too – Aubrey cracks me up. She talks CONSTANTLY. I’m sitting here with my forearms on my stomach and they keep moving up and down because my girls are kung fu fighting in there. I can’t wait until they’re at that age!
Jan @ Sprouts n Squats says
Aww she looks so cute!
blackhuff says
She has grown so much. Almost 2, so awesome!
char eats greens says
It does sound like a good age!!! I can’t wait to see what Nia’s like then!!
Lauren K says
Hailey is so adorable. The romper picture is my favorite and I really can’t believe she is almost 2! Feels like yesterday that we were in Freedom Park taking pictures and she was 3 months old…
Have a fabulous weekend in Boston!!
Jill Will Run says
I can’t imagine… my baby is 9-months-old and she still kind of feels so draining. Have you always put Hailey to bed at 7:00 PM? My girl goes down at 8 and sleeps until about 6 AM.
She’s adorable and I’m glad to have discovered your site… especially the Munchkin Meals (like I tweeted). I have been giving my girl purees, but the doctor wants her to gain more weight since she’s dropped in percentile. But I’m struggling knowing what to feed her! There are great ideas here and in the link-ups!